There and back again, a youthworker's tale.

As you've guessed I do like Lord of the Rings and the shameless rip off in the title was there to suck you in. In all fairness the place is like Middle-Earth, Caerleon is like The Shire, Cardiff could be Osgiliath and Newport is Mordor - which leaves England across the Bristol Channel akin to the Grey Havens. Last week I was writing about going to Wales and visiting the church where I hope to be doing youth work soon. I would also like to point out that in my last post about the first thing we'd do in Wales was get lost, I wasn't joking. My excuse is I could see where were going but they had closed the road since the map had been made.

Having never been to Wales I have to say I look forward to returning as Lizzie and I had a great time, despite the last local leisure facility closing about 1700 years ago, a big thanks to Owen and his wife Ruth for their superb hospitality over the weekend. It was really, really good seeing the Caerleon (pronounced Kill Ian! - poor Ian!) and it's an incredible place with a very rich history dating back to the Iron age. If you like Roman history this place is a dream land with an amphitheatre and Roman baths amongst other things. back then it was home to the 2nd Augustan legion a force of 3000 foot soldiers and doesn't include cavalry or the likes. At present there are around 8000 people so there were probably more people there 2000 years ago!

<---- Our Welsh accommodation.

The traditional Welsh youth workers' uniform ------>


In many ways it's quite different from life in Glasgow which has a greater population than Caerleon, Newport and Cardiff combined but the Celtic heritage of Wales also gives it many similar traits that you find in Scotland. The church where I'd be working is totally different from any of the churches I've been to in Glasgow or anywhere for that matter, mostly due to its location and shape. It's at the very top of a hill and is an old farm, so the church as the grounds of a farm which include an iron age fort. Despite the church hall being in the cow shed there are no cow although someone may have told my mum they still had cows to provide the milk for the tea and coffee! There's a good community feel to the church and despite it not being the biggest church I've been in it's probably the loudest with good Welsh singing! The local area is quite middle class which has the upside of less serious trouble but the downside of people not seeing the need for a church or God in their lives. 
In terms of the work I'd be doing there there is a good range on ministries to be involved with and develop. At present there is a Sunday morning youth group, about 7 or so go; a Sunday Club for primary school with 12 kids and a midweek youth outreach group with 20 or so going. There is also a midweek youth Bible study which is doing the youth version of Christianity Explored. It was hard to try and imagine what I'd be doing until I'd seen what was going on and I can now start to flesh out so basic ideas having met the kids and youth. They're a great bunch and it was good to chat with them over the afternoon tea in the church. I've never felt so stuffed outwith Christmas. These are the things I'd be getting involved with but in addition we want to get involved with the local schools and I'd like to get involved with the local university campus too. We'd like to develop lunch clubs with the schools and eventually an after school club but that's a long way off. Hopefully I'd be able to help out in RE or the equivalent in Wales and assemblies. Both of these would be a great way of getting more involved with the community and hopefully making the assemblies and RE more interesting. I remember them being a bit boring and the Christian modules in RE had very little to do with being a Christian.
There are a few things that are still to be done before I can start in Wales, although I am now officially accepted as an OMS ministry candidate! That means I'm officially ratified after my interview which happened in Wales last week. I've still got the orientation to do and start my fundraising. Hopefully this won't take too long and I'll be down in Wales by the summer!
It's a scary thought in a way going all that way (well ~7 hours by car) from our families although it will be good too. I thought I'd also say that this job is a calling not just a mere job. There is a clear difference. A job is done to just get money where as a calling is done regardless of the finances. However, I use the terms 'job' and 'calling' interchangeably in this regard and I often use the term job more often as that's what most people understand.
So prayer points for those on the blower with God:

• Lizzie would get a job down there in one of the local hospitals. There is a vacancy within an ICU ward but it's only bank at the moment.

• The fundraising and orientation would go well and that the fundraising wouldn't take too long either.

• Our move would go well and we would settle into Welsh life.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us before. We've seen God do good things and it's a testimony that he still cares for the small details in people's lives as well as the big things too.

<----- No prizes for guessing what this is for. Let's just say I won't be making use of this traditional Welsh method.

Road Trip!

So this weekend the wife and I are setting out on our epic road trip down to Wales. This is significant for 3 reasons, it's the first time either of us will have been in the land of leeks, daffodils and Tom Jones, we get to meet the people I'll be working with and, thirdly, it's the first time I will have had an interview in McDonald's. Spoiler alert: I've no pictures this week hence the Welsh theme with the colours but it also means it will be like a boring auntie's holiday itinerary.
So for those of you who I've not yet told, my first interview should have had some people from OMS present so they're going to rectify this by means of an interview in McDonald's over coffee (maybe they could include "interview coffee" in their next TV spot?).
So that's on Friday and pretty much the first thing we'll do in Wales other than get lost. We're then off to meet Owen and his wife which will be good as I've spoke to him quite a few times, so will be nice to finally meet him face-to-face.
Saturday is a chance to get to know the local area and that sort of thing. I've heard conflicting reports of what Newport and the surrounding area is like from people who have never been there so we can make up our own mind.
Sunday will probably be the most daunting day as we go to the church. They're very keen, as am I, for this to happen so it will be a case of being bombarded with lots of new faces and possibly a quick Q&A up front. However, I'm told there will be an afternoon tea which should be good.
And finally on Monday we come home. There might be a stop in Manchester at the OMS HQ or there may not. I was meant to stop there on Friday but due to the interview in a McDonald's on a roundabout it was delayed until Monday but I've just got an e-mail saying it may have to be another time. It seems I will need to be ratified at some point as apparently it can't be done over the phone.
There has been lots of staff movement at OMS with people starting new jobs so I think that hasn't helped and has slowed progress down. However, all in good time. God has been more than generous with us and has opened several doors for us in the last week. The church has very kindly offered to pay for my breakdown cover and has covered my fuel costs for getting to Wales and back which is a huge blessing as that was a bit of a concern given the cost of petrol. It's also important that Lizzie gets a job down there and in the last few days a temporary position has become available so that's also great and we have a potential tenant for our flat which is just incredible. God is good people.

Work it!

Adelaide Place Baptist Church. Where I work and where I got married. Convenient.



For those of you who I've not yet told I recently was offered a new job, although I've not yet started. In the meantime I'm still going to be at the Burrell Collection and Adelaide's Guest House (in fact that's where I am writing this).

The Burrell Collection (taken from rampantscotland.com) and view from the cafe in winter (taken from my phone).

SO if I've told you or you've read my other post about it then you can skip this paragraph. Basically I've been offered the job of youth worker in a church down in the valleys of Wales. Actually that might be a lie I don't think it's in valley. Anyway it's a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway I'd promised updates and my latest update is that I had a chat with one of the board of trustees from OMS, who are my soon to be new employers, the other night there. Basically there is a board of trustees meeting on Monday the 5th and part of that meeting will be talking about my appointment and they have to ratify it and sort out any issues. To be be blunt I think my chat the other night there could have gone better as:

a) The questions I was asked were vastly different to what I expected.
b) Following on from being different some of the questions were about the form I filled in October, so that was tricky.
c) I have a cold and had lost my voice and only just got it back.

Anyway I croaked my through the chat and hopefully I'll hear a bit more soon. So what can I say? I don't have a start date but it's not likely to be before mid-April as there are CRB checks and more importantly I need to raise some of my own funds. I say more importantly as I know I'm not and axe murderer and fund raising takes longer than a CRB check. I'm aiming for between £3600 and £6000 as my accommodation is covered and there is partial funding in place. This will be a new experience for me as the last time I did fund raising it was for a youth club I did a while back and we held a ceilidh since it was near Christmas and people like Christmas' ceilidhs. In a couple of weeks Lizzie and I are going to visit the church where I'd be working as neither of us have been there but from speaking to the people there it sounds like a great place and they seem like a great bunch even if they talk funny. That being said an American over here told me everyone here talks funny. Also en-route to Wales we're hoping to stop off at the OMS HQ in Manchester to meet the people there. If we're able to we might even stop off at Bawtry on the way home to see more missionaries; Lizzie's brother and his ladies. Well his wife and daughter doesn't sound quite as cool. For those of you who don't know where Wales is click here. If you're interested we're in Glasgow which is 300+ miles to the north. I'm told the rain in Wales is warmer than Glasgow.
So prayer points for all you prayerers out there:

1. It's not too much money but I can't start until that's sorted.
2. For OMS in Manchester and the staff there. There are a lot of new staff there and there has been a bit of a breakdown in communication and that's why the process has taken so long. A wee aside a former OMS worker is now working with Pioneers which is where David (Lizzie's brother) and wife are. Small world.
3. We'd have a safe journey when we head down in 2 weeks and that everything would go well. It can be quite daunting meeting so many new people in the space of a weekend knowing that I'll have to make a good impression. 

A new hope

A long time ago in a country far, far away I recieved an advert for a job in another country far, far away (Not to be confused with Far, Far Away from Shrek as it's in Wales)Yes a shameless rip off of George Lucas' sci-fi epic but in terms of my employment history it is for me a new hope. Ok so back in September/October when I was in England I was given an advert for the position of youth worker with a church in the south of Wales. Although technically speaking I would be employed by OMS, which means I'd be employed as a missoinary, (http://www.onemissionsociety.org.uk/) I'd be based in a village just outside of Newport. Obviously this is very exciting for Lizzie and I but it's been an answer to our prayers and the whole process has helped me grow in faith.  Before I received official confirmation of getting the job I felt God was saying to me that I'd been accepted for the position. Obviously there was no big booming megaphone voice but a very clear sense of' "Steven you've got the Wales job."
When I got the phone call later that week, from Wales, Lizzie had just come off nightshift and she was just in bed falling asleep when Owen phoned to tell me. That being said he had an almost apologetic sound, you know the kind where they're saying I don't know how to tell you but you've not got the job, and he was saying; "Erm Steven" in his thick Welsh accent "Have you got 5 minutes?" I was thinking at this point just spit it out and tell me someone else has got the job. It's funny how I went from being so confident to doubting all because of one sentence! Anyway he said that I got the job. Later on when Lizzie got up she asked who it was and I said it was about the Wales job and she said she thought it was and she thought I had the job - how wonderfully intuitive of her.
The job itself is great as I'd be doing something that I'm really passionate about, youth work, and I'd be the first youth worker at Lodge farm Church which is incredible. If I can trouble anyone with some prayer points on here they are:

1. Lizzie would be able to get a job in one of the many hospitals within a fairly close promiximity to Carleon.
2. That we'd be able to get our flat rented.

 I'll keep everyone posted.